About Us
Machen Retreat and Conference Center
The Machen Retreat and Conference Center is a facility located in the mountains of Highland County, Virginia. It is a ministry of and owned by the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Machen provides a place where families can retreat from the distractions of their lives to find a haven in Christ and nurture in the Scriptures.
“I learned to escape…”
“…from the heartless machinery of the world, and the equally heartless machinery…of a church organization nominally dedicated to Christ, and refresh my soul with the friendliness of the hills.”
J. Gresham Machen a Silhouette by Henry W. Coray
Personnel
Retreat Operating Committee (ROC)
Machen Retreat is overseen by a committee of men and women from the Presbyteries of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
Gerald Taylor
Chairman
Gerald attends Staunton OPC in Staunton, Virginia and is a member of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic
Bennett Wethered
Director
Bennett is the former pastor of Dayspring OPC and is a member of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Tappey Jones
Secretary
Tappey is an elder at Staunton OPC in Staunton, Virginia of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Kenley Leslie
Advisor
Kenley Leslie is a member of Staunton OPC in Staunton, Virginia of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Anna Wagner
Treasurer
Anna Wagner is a member of Staunton OPC in Staunton, Virginia of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Ethan Allison
Committee Member
Ethan Allison is the pastor of Staunton OPC in Staunton, Virginia, and is a member of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic
Tony Monaghan
Committee Member
Tony Monaghan is Pastor of Providence OPC in Charlottesville, and a member of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Jake Hughes
Committee Member
Jake Hughes is a member of Reformation OPC in Virginia Beach, Virginia, attending Peninsula Reformed OPC in Yorktown.
Anne Jones
Social Media Manager
Anne Jones is a member of Staunton OPC in Staunton, VA in the Presybytery of the Mid-Atlantic.
Brian Withnell
Committee Member
Brian Withnell is a deacon and member of Bethel OPC in Leesburg, Virginia.
Liam Coombes
Committee Member
Rose Sullivan
Associate Member
Chris Cashen
Committee Member
Chris Cashen is the pastor of Trinity Reformed OPC in Lanham, Maryland, and is a member of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic
Chris Wisdom
Committee Member
Your Generous Support
Machen exists each year on a small budget. We are able to serve and minister to hundreds of children and families through gifts, our dedicated volunteers, and the help of a great God.
Support is needed to maintain and expand the facilities. Read on to learn about our vision and to find out how to donate.
J. Gresham Machen
The Machen Retreat and Conference Center is named after John Gresham Machen (1881-1937) – professor, theologian, author, churchman and leader in the organization of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Mountains and Why We Love Them
Constraining Love
[..] Paul speaks of love as a constraining force. Love, he says, hems us in. There are certain things which love prevents us from doing. Earlier in the passage, he has spoken of another restraining force—namely, fear. (Read More)
J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir
“An intimate and personal account which leaves no aspect of Machen’s full and brilliant life untouched, Ned B. Stonehouse’s full-scale portrait is a vivid and inspiring picture of a Christian of apostolic ardor who, at his untimely death in 1937, was called “the first Protestant minister in the nation.” (Read More)
Defending the Faith
“In the early twentieth century J. Gresham Machen emerged as one of America’s best known Protestant intellectuals and a widely respected fundamentalist. But as an opponent of Prohibition and defender of civil liberties, Machen became an improbable ally of secular intellectuals who sought to liberate cultural and intellectual life from Protestant dominance. (Read More)
Machen Retreat and Conference Center
Location
6 Job’s Hill Rd
McDowell, VA 24458
Phone
Retreat: (540)396-3650
Information: (703)477-5670
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2